


A kid’s help

by NCSP



Series: Post-Endgame stuff [5]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Character Death Fix, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 21:00:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18818923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NCSP/pseuds/NCSP
Summary: ENDGAME SPOILERSLoki realises Tony isn’t faring any better, so he decides to have someone special help himSequel toBedridden





	A kid’s help

**Author's Note:**

> I know, wrong fandom, but I think this song ([Jenny of Oldstones](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eTa1jHk1Lxc)) realy builds the mood for this story

Loki had no idea of what to do anymore.

He had already tried so many times to cheer Tony up that even his silver tongue couldn’t come up with any more reassurances.

All Tony could do was retaining his bleak vision of what his life had become, and he didn’t accept any alternative. Little did it matter that Loki, Pepper, Rhodey and even Natasha where spending their time telling him that everything would have been fine, Tony just didn’t listen.

He pointedly ignored everything they said in order to focus on how he had to hold his StarkPad with his left hand and rely on that hand to write too, and all of that only for a few minutes at the time because the effort of reading on the lit screen caused him a tremendous headache that required hours of rest to disappear.

When Loki had told him not to worry about that Tony had snorted and tried to grab the tablet again.

When Rhodey had told him to stop wrecking his mind about an issue that was probably only temporary Tony had flipped him off.

When Pepper had told him not to worry about Morgan, that she would have understood, he had remained silent, and that had been the worst thing to which Loki had witnessed.

That time Tony hadn’t even tried to come up with a comeback. He had just stared at the ceiling, his eyes unfocused and his breath catching in his throat.

Now Loki didn’t know what to do.

He had never seen Tony in such a state, so depressed and unwilling to fight back. Even when Tony woke up from his nightmares featuring his time in Afghanistan, he managed to make some feeble jokes to diffuse Loki’s worry.

Now though, that bite in his voice was gone.

He had always seen Tony as a fighter, as someone who wouldn’t give up, but as of now the only fighting Tony was doing was that stubborn reading on his StarkPad that was more damaging than good. For the emotional parts of the situation, Tony seemed to have given up.

He didn’t try to fight what life had thrown in his direction, he just remained there, staring at the ceiling, ignoring everyone who told him that things would have changed for the best if only he was patient enough to give it time.

Loki was sure that Morgan’s intervention would have certainly made a difference, but the little girl was still too young to be of some help. All she understood of that situation was that her dad’s face was different now, disfigured by something very bad, and that he didn’t play with her anymore. Of course none of them was blaming her for that, but Loki certainly wished that the child could understand that her father needed to have her by his side right now.

If only Loki would have managed to make her understand what was going on… He was convinced that Tony would have only benefited from having his child with him.

And that was when the thought hit him.

Morgan wasn’t Tony’s only child.

Maybe biologically yes – even though Loki had had some doubts for some time – but affectively?

No, there was another person who could fit that role.

Another person who was old enough to understand.

Loki glanced in Tony’s direction.

The man was in his wheelchair, pointedly staring at the wall as if that patch of painting had personally offended him, but overall he looked fine.

“Tony?” he called from the armchair.

“Mmh?”

“Do you mind if I go take a coffee?”

“Go, you don’t have to stay here all day.”

Loki found a bit worrying that Tony hadn’t asked him why he couldn’t just materialise a cup of coffee as he was used to do.

“You want something, darling?”

“Doctors said no coffee.”

“Something else?”

“No. Go,” Tony murmured, always convincing Loki more of the need of his intervention.

“I’ll be right back,” Loki said, brushing his lips against Tony’s before leaving the room.

 

~

 

“Oh, hey, whoah, what the hell?”

It was a very well known voice to distract Tony from his mulling over his own despair.

“Mr. Stark!” Peter exclaimed, clapping his hands, “Oh my God, how…? What? I was sitting in class just a second ago and then I felt like something was pulling at my shirt and then everything went black, and now I’m here! I didn’t know I’d have been here today, or I’d have brought some flowers! Do people still bring flowers when they visit someone at the hospital? Maybe a plushie? Balloons? All of them?”

“Kid?” Tony asked, still trying to understand whether that was only a bad sign because his brain was starting to hallucinate, or if Peter was actually there.

“Yes, sir?”

“Are you, like, real?”

“What? Of course I am! Or at least I think so. I don’t know. I was sitting in class and now I’m here. So I don’t know. Maybe one of those extracorporeal experiences people talk about? But I think I’m here,” Peter pinched his hand as to have a confirmation, “Yep, probably here.”

Tony was rendered speechless by the only person in the world who rambled more than he did.

“How are you?” Peter asked all of a sudden, as if he had remembered only in that moment that there was something wrong with Tony to begin with.

Tony blamed it on having just been teleported there.

“I’d have liked to visit you, but they told me I couldn’t. It was horrible.”

“You what?”

“They said it was better not to expose you to too many people in fear of possible infections. They said they had no idea how you would’ve been able to handle it, if they’d have been able to cure them, so the doctors have only allowed a few people to visit you, and it was so horrible, Mr. Stark. I had no idea of what was happening and even though I was spying from the window I couldn’t see much, the glass is designed not to let you see inside so I had no idea of what was happening and I had no idea if you were alive or dead and it was horrible, really horrible, and- Wait. Maybe I shouldn’t be here,” he stepped back, raising his hands, “If the doctor said you can’t see too many people then I should at least get clean clothes or something. I couldn’t tolerate to be to one who made you fall sick, Mr. Stark, no, you already risked so much to get us back and I feel so bad for that, I should probably-“

“Come here,” Tony interrupted him, and Peter didn’t need to be told twice.

He raced in the direction of the wheelchair and crouched in front of it, passing his arms around Tony and resting his head against the man’s chest.

It was natural for Tony to raise his injured arm and place his blackened hand in the kid’s hair.

“I was so scared, Tony…”

“I’m sorry, Pete. It’s fine now. I’m fine.”

“I had no idea if you’d ever woken up, and I can’t lose another person, not again. Not you,” Peter sniffed against Tony’s hospital gown, trying to hold back the tears he had already battled in the past two weeks.

All the Avengers – old and new – had been instructed to put on a brave face in order to reassure the population that now everything was finally back under control again and that there was nothing to fear anymore, but that had taken its toll; pretending to be fine, to not be in constant fear of losing the fatherly figure that Stark had become, had drained Peter of all energy. 

Now the man was right in front of him, looking certainly battered and bruised, but very much alive and in good conditions.  
Peter couldn’t hold it back any longer.

Crouched there, with Tony hugging him, he could finally let it all go.

“Shh, hey, Pete, it’s fine. I’m sorry I scared you,” Tony murmured, in the same voice he used with Morgan when she cried woken up by a nightmare, “I’m fine, everything’s gonna be fine, okay? Just a little time and everything’ll be back to normal. I promise.”

When Tony raised his eyes from the shaking figure of the kid that was still silently crying in his arms, looking in the direction of the door, he saw the victorious smirk on Loki’s lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Partially inspired by [this fanart](https://sonoundiocreaturaottusa.tumblr.com/post/184849469880/spidey-art-shh-hey-hey-im-sorry-i-scared)


End file.
